Hester was angry. She works weekday mornings as a dental nurse at a large local practice. Her hours are not full time, but nevertheless she has to juggle that daily commitment with the house-keeping and other domestic responsibilities to her family.
'Shiftless lot,' she muttered to herself.
She had just come home from work and shopping for groceries to discover that the kitchen was a total mess. Dishes were piled in the sink and on the worktop. The sink was also half full of cold, greasy water. The dishwasher hadn't been emptied, and there was the remnant of a loaf on the cutting board. Someone, most likely her husband, had been making a sandwich and left a mess, plus the bread was now stale from sitting in the air. She tossed the quarter loaf into the bin.
The final straw was the discovery of a pile of dirty laundry in the utility room. Why can't they even put a load of washing in? She thought to herself in frustration.
Out loud she exclaimed, 'Fuckers!' It pleased her to refer to them like this, particularly her husband. It was him she most resented, not her children. She could forgive Billy and Mary for their role in this mess. In fact she forgave them every day. Billy was a plumber and was trying to start his own business, so when he got a call he needed to go. And since her divorce had brought her back home to re-start her life, Mary had been trying to finish her nurses' training. They both worked hard, irregular hours, and Mary had to work shifts too. They deserved to be looked after, or so Hester thought.
On the other hand James was just a chauvinistic fucker. Hester gave a small smile at the insult. The man was such a disappointment. He expected a Victorian wife who would run around after him. OK so he worked shifts and at times was working mornings, afternoons or nights. But that didn't give him the excuse to do nothing in the home.
He doesn't even do his duty as a husband. Hester thought with a sudden surge of emotion. Tears welled in her eyes as she thought of the sad state of their marriage. They hadn't been in each other's arms for over eight years now. They had been passionate once. James had been romantic, even a good and attentive lover. But that had died. It had been replaced by a religious fervour that she could not share. He had started as a member of the church community, just helping-out he had said. Next thing he was taking bible classes with the young mothers and studying to be a lay-preacher. Well Hester just couldn't understand what drove him in that way. She certainly couldn't participate. This difference drove a wedge and they drifted apart. It would be better to separate or divorce, but Hester had wanted her children to have a solid family home. And James had wanted to keep up appearances. Just as well too. Even though Mary was now 29 she had come home after her divorce and now needed to live there while she finished training. Billy too depended on the family home while the 21 year old grew his business.
At home James and Hester made it work. They were civil to one another, mostly. And James moved into the guest bedroom. The excuse had been his shift work and the need to sleep at irregular times. But in reality this suited them both as they no longer wanted to share a bed. Of course this had been a gradual acceptance. Hester missed sex. She had always had a strong libido. In the early days of the estrangement she would often confront James, especially if she'd had a few drinks.
'Why won't you fuck me anymore?' she would demand.
'Please, Hester, you know I despise obscenity,' was his typical answer.
'Oh forgive me, Reverend,' Hester would mock him, 'I forgot that you're too holy these days to do anything so shameful.'
'It's you who is being shameful.'
'Oh please, I'm simply following my God-given urges. You're the one who's being unnatural.'
Often she would press herself against him, 'God gave you a prick, didn't He? And He gave me a cunt. Surely if you fuck me you're just doing His will.
Sometimes she would grasp his penis through his clothes, and sometimes it would be hardening. 'Shall I get down on my knees and suck you?' she would breathe into his face. 'Then you could turn me around and fuck me from behind. You don't even have to kiss me,' tears often ran down her face, 'Just slide you're big cock into me and fuck me hard. Fuck me until I cum! Do it, James, please, satisfy me once more.'
But James never would. He would simply push her away and scold her for her behaviour. Usually then Hester would get angry and rail at him, 'I suppose you're fucking one of those little bitches who run around at the church. Is that what you do at your bible meetings? You lecture them and they look all dewy-eyed and wet their knickers for you? Maybe you're fucking all of them. Is that it?'
It nearly always ended the same way. Hester would push James to breaking point and he would slap her face. Not hard, or viciously, just enough to silence her. She would skulk off to bed. When things were bad she would masturbate herself to sleep. She got quite good at it. She knew her body and her fingers could soon have her sighing with deep satisfaction. That worked most of the time. The other times she drank. Never to get rotten drunk, but just enough to sleep; a few glasses of wine did the trick. She would then sleep soundly.
Of course she hadn't gone without entirely. Although Hester was now fifty-one she still had a pretty face that was shown off by her short strawberry-blonde coloured hair. She also had a reasonable figure. OK so it wasn't what it had been at 18, but whose body ever is? After two children she had gained a few pounds (well, maybe more than a few). But she still had a good shape. Her full breasts and her broad hips simply contrasted with her slim waist. Her legs had always been her best feature and they were still lovely. The added weight just emphasised their shapeliness. She knew she got lots of admiring glances. Her dental nurse's uniform was dignified and demure but showed her shape to good effect. There was an option with trousers and a tunic and one with a tunic styled dress that came to just below her knees. She preferred that option and wore that style most often. It had paid dividends.
Three years earlier they had had a young Irish dentist taking an exchange work experience with the practice. He only had a small case load so it suited for Hester to work as his assistant as the number of his patient appointments fitted with her hours. They got on well from the start. Hester mothered him and invited him round to her home for meals. She even did some laundry for him from time to time. He was a handsome young man with curly brown hair and piercing blue eyes. His deep toned, lilting voice was warm and entrancing. He also had a devilish sense of humour and the cheekiest grin you have ever seen. Hester fell for him. Their relationship at work sparkled with electricity. She convinced herself that the attraction was just matronly, but soon his face entered her masturbation fantasies. Even then she dismissed it as a silly crush. But when he invited her round to his flat for a meal one evening, just to say thank you for her kindness, she ended up in his arms and in his bed.
The meal was barely touched. They had shared a glass of wine and she stood with him in the open plan kitchen as he made final preparations. He was confident and humorous. They laughed and she touched his arm or shoulder each time he moved past her. There was no table so they sat at the breakfast bar on high stools and he had to help her up, his hands lingering on her hips. She made a comment about getting old.
'Nonsense, sure you've a great figure,' Ryan complimented her.
